Business Reforms in Togo

The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.

The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle.

By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy

Trading across Borders: Togo made trading across borders easier by implementing an electronic single-window system, which reduced the time for border compliance and documentary compliance for both exporting and importing.

Resolving Insolvency: Togo made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a new conciliation procedure for companies in financial difficulties and a simplified preventive settlement procedure for small companies.

DB2016

Starting a Business: Togo made starting a business less costly by reducing the fees to register with the tax authority.

Getting Electricity: The utility in Togo reduced the time and procedures for getting an electricity connection through several initiatives, including by creating a single window enabling customers to pay all fees at once.

Trading across Borders: Togo reduced the time for documentary and border compliance for importing by implementing an electronic platform connecting several agencies for import procedures and payments.

DB2015

Starting a Business: Togo made starting a business easier by enabling the one-stop shop to publish notices of incorporation and eliminating the requirement to obtain an economic operator card.

Protecting Minority Investors: Togo strengthened minority investor protections by introducing greater requirements for disclosure of related-party transactions to the board of directors and by making it possible for shareholders to inspect the documents pertaining to related-party transactions and to appoint auditors to conduct an inspection of such transactions.

Paying Taxes: Togo made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the payroll tax rate.

DB2014

Starting a Business: Togo made starting a business easier by reducing the time required to register at the one-stop shop and by reducing registration costs.

Dealing with Construction Permits: Togo made dealing with construction permits easier by improving internal operations at the City Hall of Lomé.

Paying Taxes: Togo made paying taxes more costly for companies by increasing corporate income tax rate and employers’ social security contribution rate and by introducing a new tax on corporate cars. At the same time, Togo reduced the payroll tax rate.

Trading across Borders: Togo made trading across borders more difficult by granting monopoly control of all port activities at the port of Lomé to a private company.

Enforcing Contracts: Togo made enforcing contracts easier by creating specialized commercial divisions within the court of first instance.

DB2013

Starting a Business: Togo made starting a business easier and less costly by reducing incorporation fees, improving the work flow at the one-stop shop for company registration and replacing the requirement for a copy of the founders’ criminal records with one for a sworn declaration at the time of the company’s registration.

Labor Market Regulation: Togo increased the wage premium for weekly holiday work and the severance payment in cases of redundancy dismissal.

DB2012

Getting Credit: Access to credit in Togo was improved through amendments to the OHADA Uniform Act on Secured Transactions that broaden the range of assets that can be used as collateral (including future assets), extend the security interest to the proceeds of the original asset and introduce the possibility of out-of-court enforcement.

Paying Taxes: Togo reduced its corporate income tax rate.

DB2010

Starting a Business: Togo made starting a business easier and less costly by setting up a one-stop shop and thereby making it possible to consolidate several procedures.

Paying Taxes: Togo made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate.

DB2008

Labor Market Regulation: Togo prohibited the use of fixed-term contracts for permanent tasks.

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